Unique partnership raises forwarder-airline connectivity to the next level

CHAMP Cargosystems and Worldwide Information Network (WIN) have announced the integration of WIN 3.0 with CHAMP’s leading Traxon cargoHUB platform. This allows the world’s entire community of independent freight forwarders to connect electronically and directly to over 100 airlines and to access a wide range of mature e-cargo enabling services.

WIN is the world’s first and only solution that provides all freight forwarders with not only full agent-to-agent e-connectivity, but also full agent-to-ocean carrier and, from June 2013, agent-to-air carrier electronic transmission of all data.

The partnership between WIN and CHAMP’s Traxon cargoHUB connects the largest community of independent forwarders worldwide with the broadest range of airlines, rapidly and securely. It is a major step forward for small-and-medium-sized forwarders to become e-freight-enabled, support the e-AWB initiative and further automate processes. It allows the seamless transmission of standardised messages such as MAWBs, HAWBs, status information, availability and booking requests.

The integration was jointly announced to the world’s largest gathering of independent freight forwarding companies at the recent WCA Family Annual Conference Week in Bangkok. WCA membership encompasses 4,807 freight forwarder offices in 189 countries and WIN has been embraced by the network as the ideal solution to the SME sector’s urgent requirement for a significant leap forward in e-connectivity.

The ground-breaking solution was also revealed to the global air cargo community at the World Cargo Symposium in Doha, where John DeBenedette, Managing Director of WIN, said that the uptake for WIN was exceeding all expectations and that, thanks to the integration with Traxon cargoHUB, SME forwarders now had electronic connectivity across the supply chain.

He added that: “Although small- and medium-sized forwarders offer their customers many advantages over the multinationals, they still lack the sort of IT connectivity their larger competitors take for granted. This new connection between WIN and CHAMP’s Traxon cargoHUB levels the playing field and, in fact, sets the stage for the independents to leap ahead. Users will rapidly benefit from efficiency gains, cost savings and an increase in service quality”.

Thanks to global freight forwarding networks, SME forwarders work with partner agents around the world so global reach is not a problem, however their partners often use completely different freight management systems. Now all a forwarder needs to do is to get connected to WIN once to allow full connectivity to any other forwarder whatever IT system they use, or even through an easy to use web interface.

Aike Höfft, Head of Forwarder & Global Distribution Services, CHAMP Cargosystems adds: “CHAMP Cargosystems has been at the cutting edge of information exchange within the air cargo community for over 20 years, actively driving and supporting industry change. CHAMP’s community integration platform Traxon cargoHUB acts as an open, extendable and rules based “industry service bus”. It simplifies transmission, conversion and distribution of messages, and expands the scope of information sharing within the air logistics community.”